# My extensive (yuk yuk) inexpensive Coolidor build



## HoserX (Aug 17, 2012)

First off thanks to all who've gone before me and taught me everything I know. So sorry for you!!

I built this Coolidor last winter soon after becoming a member of PUFF and realizing that a desk top just wasn't going to get it. I've been living with it now for almost a year and thought it time to share my experiences.

I'm cheap, let's just get that out there so you all know where I'm coming from. I honestly have a total of less then $25.00 ( not including time) wrapped up in this whole kit.

To start off , I bought the cooler at a garage sale. $5.00. It's a 38 quart Coleman. Hinge top w/ a great seal, important.



Cleaned it with warm water & Oxyclean.

Not knowing at the time how or what I was going to use for shelves I decided that lining it with cedar was a good option. So I stopped at my local B&M and after explaining what I was doing they (gladly I might add) donated 6 boxes to my build. I tore the best boxes apart and using a drop or two of construction adhesive glued the boxes to the interior walls of the cooler. Using just a drop or so of glue kept the smell to a minimum.



Next it was time to decide on shelves. I had some old rubber coated wire shelf material laying around, and after purchasing (ugg) some PVC for supports formulated a cheap plan for shelving.



So, the only thing left was what to keep my stogies in? Again, back to my local B&M, this time I had to jump off my wallet, again ouch. For storage I decided to use boxes, do'h, who'd have thought of that huh???? I had a box of Undercrown's left over from an earlier purchase, so all I needed was to find a couple boxes that would fit my shelves.



I put my Hygrometer (an el cheapo digital that I got from Thompson that tested within 1%) and about a lb of KL in a knee high on the bottom. All's good, 65/65. Can't get much better than that in my book.

I have somewhere around 100 sticks in here at any given time. With proper packing I'm thinking I could probably pack 200 plus if need be. Not bad for under $25.00 doll hairs.

Hopefully the some of you cheap bastards out there can take what I've done here and hopefully find something here that will work for you.

Thanks for looking,


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Looking good and the price is right to boot!


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## pippin925 (Jan 3, 2013)

Nicely done, but it looks to me you're out of space. When are you putting the next one together??


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## TCBSmokes (Sep 25, 2013)

Nice job. A real classic. Love the shelves, and it's place of prominence on top of the clothes dryer and next to the slop sink. Just ribbin' ya as I'm sure that was just for foto purposes. Good going, really. TCB


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## HoserX (Aug 17, 2012)

pippin925 said:


> Nicely done, but it looks to me you're out of space. When are you putting the next one together??


So the good thing is I don't have the room to purchase any full boxes so it's keeping my purchase potential down. Don't know what I'd do if I had a 150 gal sitting there just waiting to be filled up. Well, actually I do know. I'd be over spending my budget and It would be filled.

I think I'm just going to keep this little baby the way it is and continue to purchase 5er's from the WTB section.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

HoserX said:


> Don't know what I'd do if I had a *150 gal* sitting there just waiting to be filled up.


If I had a 150 GALLON chest I would probably be seeking medical attention after four hours :biggrin:

Your build looks nice! I also chopped up a wire closet shelf for my 150qt marine cooler- but I didn't take the time you did on my 42qt. I like the way you lined the sides with box lids.


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## HoserX (Aug 17, 2012)

TCBSmokes said:


> Nice job. A real classic. Love the shelves, and it's place of prominence on top of the clothes dryer and next to the slop sink. Just ribbin' ya as I'm sure that was just for foto purposes. Good going, really. TCB


You like that huh??? My wife said it sitting on the dryer just wont work, and it's in the way. Ha, I told her when she get's the clothes dry she'll just have to carry them straight upstairs and put them away as my coolidor is way more important. My doctor told me the cast will come off in a couple months. :moony:


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## HoserX (Aug 17, 2012)

Tobias Lutz said:


> I like the way you lined the sides with box lids.


Thanks, my thought process was that I wasn't quite sure at the time I was building it what I was going to use for shelves or storage. So, I thought if I lined the cooler with Cedar it wouldn't matter so much what I ended up using. And I figured if I did end up storing boxes in it the more cedar the better to keep the RH correct. I'm happy with it, other then it's too small. One great thing about It is it smells AWESOME. Every time I open it to grab a smoke it's like walking into the cooler at my local B&M.


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## TCBSmokes (Sep 25, 2013)

I especially enjoyed your enthusiasm for the project! Enjoy. TCB


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## commonsenseman (Apr 18, 2008)

I LOVE this build! I'm all about being "frugal" (for me, cheap).

My cooler is even more simple. Since everything basically is sitting in it's original boxes & the singles are just in a tray.

I may have to try something like this though too, shelves would be nice.....


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## AlliChaparra (Nov 4, 2013)

I know my husband and I were thinking about making a coolidor. I like your shelving, nice and simple.


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

I like that you used the basement in the same way many of us use the "cellar" to store tobacco. The only concern you have is the moist basement is conducive to mold. The way that was controlled for centuries was the use of copper to line the inside of the humidor. Copper is a natural antimicrobial killing mold spores and other algea types on contact. The Antique humidors are lined inside for that reason and also to act like humidifiers on contact with moist air. You can get rolls of the thin stuff from hobby stores and cut small panels to add to the lining and lids of the boxes if anything goes awry in your basement location. You can even solder small 3/8" tubing and t connectors together for racks and shelf holders as I have planned for my mega humidor. Right now I am using a large file cabinet and lots of cedar trays to store my collection right on top of several pounds of kitty litter. I use Exquisicat from Petco for higher RH and the Walmart brand for dryer RH. In found the Walmart brand is sold at 55% conditioning and the Exquisicat is conditioned right at 67-8% RH. I can still put it in the oven for 20 min at 225°f or spray distilled water to control RH if needed. Its Just easier to add or Subtract one brand or the other from the big tray covering the whole bottom of the drawer. I also have my storage bins ( tote) that I started with that hold 8-10 trays ( 8x13x2.5" ) for new sticks. 2 months in the bins with 5lbs of litter bring 125 cigars quickly into smoking condition because the humidity is constant with a lid on the top four moister air to be "burped". That is the biggest failing off humidors with side opening is the complete venting of conditioned air every time the door or lid is opened. With a top lid that dryer air stays in the cigar zone. It does make me wonder why it is that a cooler or other cabinet is used sideways when a top lid is so much better at keeping things steady. 
If you want the grandaddy of all coolers the big white ones used by fishing boats is huge and probably holds an entire collection. I have seen them at Walmart and every outdoors placen like Bass Pro and also boat shops. 
Thanks to your B&M cigar shop you get the frugal award for not blowing a big wad of cash making a nice cool-ador. Great job brother! Its nice to see the whole build in good details for others to follow.


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## fiddlegrin (Feb 8, 2009)

Nice going Bill! :thumb:

I'm glad it's working so well. Thanks for sharing it with us!


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## HoserX (Aug 17, 2012)

madbricky said:


> I like that you used the basement in the same way many of us use the "cellar" to store tobacco. The only concern you have is the moist basement is conducive to mold. The way that was controlled for centuries was the use of copper to line the inside of the humidor. Copper is a natural antimicrobial killing mold spores and other algea types on contact. The Antique humidors are lined inside for that reason and also to act like humidifiers on contact with moist air. You can get rolls of the thin stuff from hobby stores and cut small panels to add to the lining and lids of the boxes if anything goes awry in your basement location. You can even solder small 3/8" tubing and t connectors together for racks and shelf holders as I have planned for my mega humidor. Right now I am using a large file cabinet and lots of cedar trays to store my collection right on top of several pounds of kitty litter. I use Exquisicat from Petco for higher RH and the Walmart brand for dryer RH. In found the Walmart brand is sold at 55% conditioning and the Exquisicat is conditioned right at 67-8% RH. I can still put it in the oven for 20 min at 225°f or spray distilled water to control RH if needed. Its Just easier to add or Subtract one brand or the other from the big tray covering the whole bottom of the drawer. I also have my storage bins ( tote) that I started with that hold 8-10 trays ( 8x13x2.5" ) for new sticks. 2 months in the bins with 5lbs of litter bring 125 cigars quickly into smoking condition because the humidity is constant with a lid on the top four moister air to be "burped". That is the biggest failing off humidors with side opening is the complete venting of conditioned air every time the door or lid is opened. With a top lid that dryer air stays in the cigar zone. It does make me wonder why it is that a cooler or other cabinet is used sideways when a top lid is so much better at keeping things steady.
> If you want the grandaddy of all coolers the big white ones used by fishing boats is huge and probably holds an entire collection. I have seen them at Walmart and every outdoors placen like Bass Pro and also boat shops.
> Thanks to your B&M cigar shop you get the frugal award for not blowing a big wad of cash making a nice cool-ador. Great job brother! Its nice to see the whole build in good details for others to follow.


Thanks for that massive amount of info Craig, and also the ring bump. I always wondered why the older humidors I've seen for sale on Craigslist were lined with copper.


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## Horrorphilly (Jul 25, 2012)

That is pretty snazzy for the price of materials. I say it now but if I continue smoking, I would like a bigger humidor but a coolidor might be the way to go.

Sean


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## ehk (Aug 21, 2012)

nice coolidor especially for the price.


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## Fat Cobra (Oct 13, 2013)

Very nice job Bill, i think i will start my biuld soon and take the advice of Craig and use copper pipe to build my shelfs.


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## Merovius (Sep 11, 2013)

I always felt that all that was needed for a coolidor was boxes of cigars, half pound beads and voila. Im really thinking about adding more cedar or sapele. What adhesive did you use?


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## Montecristo#4 (May 2, 2011)

Well When you have time and spare boxes of cigars its a real nice Humi. I would rather used thin cedar to line the inside . I would prefer my Cabinet humidor personally.


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## HoserX (Aug 17, 2012)

Merovius said:


> I always felt that all that was needed for a coolidor was boxes of cigars, half pound beads and voila. Im really thinking about adding more cedar or sapele. What adhesive did you use?


Just a drop of construction adhesive. I think it was liquid nails but don't quote me on that.


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## HoserX (Aug 17, 2012)

Montecristo#4 said:


> Well When you have time and spare boxes of cigars its a real nice Humi. I would rather used thin cedar to line the inside . I would prefer my Cabinet humidor personally.
> View attachment 46556


What an awesome shot James, I am EXTREMELY jealous.


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## willyzhere (Aug 29, 2013)

Compared to mine, yours is extensive! And, yes, I am a proud cheap bastard. Which reminds me to get back to by bundle deal searching. It's that time when I like to stow away some cheap smokes and good deals in my colemandor for the winter and see what surprises they have in store for me come spring or summer time. Thanks for sharing!


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## HoserX (Aug 17, 2012)

willyzhere said:


> Compared to mine, yours is extensive! And, yes, I am a proud cheap bastard. Which reminds me to get back to by bundle deal searching. It's that time when I like to stow away some cheap smokes and good deals in my colemandor for the winter and see what surprises they have in store for me come spring or summer time. Thanks for sharing!


Love it "Colemandor"!!! Much better then Coolidor. Thanks for the bump by the way.


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

HoserX said:


> Love it "Colemandor"!!! Much better then Coolidor. Thanks for the bump by the way.


Agreed! Coleman-dor is way cooler. ....get it, lol


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## TacticalStogie (Oct 8, 2013)

Montecristo#4 said:


> Well When you have time and spare boxes of cigars its a real nice Humi. I would rather used thin cedar to line the inside . I would prefer my Cabinet humidor personally.
> View attachment 46556


Nobody likes a show off..... Coolidor thread, not a tower thread. I am sure we would all love to have a beautiful tower like yours and have it filled as such...


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## Montecristo#4 (May 2, 2011)

Hey Kell I am always willing to trade some sticks.


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## Sprouthog (Jul 25, 2012)

Nice coolidor.


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